Coalition cranks up pressure on Thomson

The Opposition has intensified the pressure on the federal government over Labor MP Craig Thomson, who is under investigation for alleged misuse of union credit cards.

Manager of Opposition business Christopher Pyne has called on the embattled backbencher to make a statement to Parliament about the investigation.

“Craig Thomson has never made a statement to Parliament in spite of the fact that all members of parliament faced with these kind of circumstances in the past have done just that, and he said he would," Mr Pyne said on ABC’s Radio National on Tuesday.

The Coalition has stepped up its attacks on Mr Thomson since independent MP
Andrew Wilkie
withdrew his support for the government on Saturday because his demand for tougher rules on poker machines by 2014 was not met.

Mr Wilkie is one of four independents and Greens whose support allowed Prime Minister
Julia Gillard
to form a minority government.

Labor’s majority in the lower house was reduced from two votes to one vote by his decision, making Mr Thomson’s future in Parliament more critical.

Mr Thomson is under investigation for allegedly misusing union credit cards before he entered Parliament in 2007. He would not comment on Monday.

Mr Pyne sought to drag Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her staff into the issue, saying she had to explain why her office had in the past contacted Fair Work Australia, which has been investigating Mr Thomson and the Health Services Union he once headed.

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“We need to find out a great deal more information from Prime Minister Julia Gillard about what she and her office did and knew about the Fair Work Australia investigation into Craig Thomson," the Opposition frontbencher said.

“Julia Gillard has a lot of questions to answer; Craig Thomson needs to make a statement to Parliament.

“It is a tainted government relying on a tainted member to remain in power in a grubby political deal."

Mr Pyne’s comments came after Opposition employment spokesman
Eric Abetz
asked FWA why its investigation into Mr
Thomson
had taken four years.

Senator Abetz asked FWA in a letter to explain why its investigation did not meet its deadline last year.

“Despite clear and unambiguous promises of finalisation by the end of 2011, the investigation remains ­ongoing with no sign of conclusion in the near future," the letter said.

Opposition Leader
Tony Abbott
says the government was back in the perilous position it was in before it installed former Liberal MP
Peter Slipper
as Speaker in November.

“No-confidence motions should only be moved in the event of serious maladministration," he told reporters in Sydney yesterday. “The fact is I don’t have Craig Thomson’s vote. The Prime Minister has Craig Thomson’s vote and that’s why I think it is absolutely imperative that the Fair Work investigation get concluded."

Mr Slipper told ABC Coast FM on Monday that Mr Wilkie’s decision would not change his decision to become Speaker.

“I have got very high regard for Andrew Wilkie," he said. “I think he is a person of great integrity and principle and when he says he believes that a parliament should travel its full term then that is what Mr Wilkie would be looking at.

“Certainly, I have said I would not have accepted this position had it been necessary to sustain the government and my assessment was that the crossbench was pretty locked in in their support for the government . . . [but] he has not said he was seeking an early election and my personal belief is that the government is secure in the sense that it has sufficient support in the Parliament to serve its full term."

In a separate statement, Mr Slipper said his role had not materially changed since Mr Wilkie’s decision.

“As I understand it, Mr Wilkie has stated he would only support motions of no confidence in cases of serious misconduct, not those that were politically opportunistic," he said.